Small British plane crashes into Channel, pilot missing

A British pilot is missing after his small airplane crashed into the English Channel on Sunday on its way to France, officials said.

Debris from the plane was found off the coast of Dover in southeastern England, but the pilot, the only person aboard, had not been found by late afternoon, said the French prefecture responsible for the Channel and the North Sea.

The pilot set off from Blackbushe Airport southwest of London and was headed for Le Touquet in northeastern France, the prefecture said.